Entertainment

The most exciting esports moments in 2015

As we look back on the past twelve months of gaming, it's clear that this was a year of esports continuing to take flight. More games built exciting competitive scenes. More players translated their skills into huge prize pools. And we viewers got more exciting, surprising and downright hilarious moments to enjoy.

Here's a round-up of some of our favorite moments from esports in 2015.

League of Legends

NA LCS Summer - Team Liquid vs Team Impulse

The most exciting moment of the North American LCS this summer wasn't in a grand finals. It happened when Team Liquid and Team Impulse went head-to-head for third place. The fourth game seemed close to ending after just half an hour, with Impulse poised to push through to a fifth game in the series after taking out Liquid's tanking player and making a move to control the Baron NPC. Who doesn't need a tank to steal a kill? Liquid's Fenix. Just goes to show that in League, you can't take any kill for granted.

World Championship Quarterfinals - Flash Wolves vs Origen

Once again, a great underdog story for our second LoL highlight. Taiwanese team Flash Wolves was the big favorite over the European team Origen during the quarters. Even though Origen did take an early lead in game one, the Wolves fought back and asserted the expected dominance. Things took an unexpected turn though with Origen's Soaz turned lose with the full power of Darius and scored a pentakill. That set the tone for the rest of the match, and Origen successfully secured its spot in the semifinals with a 3-1 on the back of that massive Soaz play.

StarCraft 2

WCS Season 3 - Quarterfinals and Finals

This year found the French Protoss player Lilbow gunning for the informal title of "best foreigner" in the Starcraft 2 scene. After a runner-up finish in WCS Season 2, Lilbow made clear that Season 3 would be his time to take the crown and qualify for the global finals at Blizzcon. First, he had to face Hydra, the Zerg player who bested him in season 2, in the quarterfinals. Then, in an unusual all-European final, Lilbow took down MaNa to secure the coveted Blizzcon spot and become the first foreigner to win a WCS Premier title.

WCS Global Finals - s0s vs Life

The Global Finals for StarCraft 2 this year was a landmark in many respects. It was the last event for the Heart of the Swarm expansion, and with two returning winners competing the grand finals, it was the first time the game would crown a two-time champion. The entire series showed off some of the best that SC2 has to offer, but the highlight was game 5. "This is not normal," commentator Tasteless observed, as s0s embarked on a build with a fleet beacon into tempests for an unexpected aerial harassment. That began an intense back-and-forth game that saw the creative s0s come out on top.

Ultra Street Fighter 4

EVO 2015 - Top 8

EVO is regarded as one of the top fighting game events, bringing out some of the world's best players. This year's top 8 for Street Fighter had too many intense moments to pick a single favorite, but just about any match played by Gamerbee, Momochi, or Infiltration is worth a watch. The top 8 had everything, with combos, comebacks, surprise characters and even a controller malfunction at the worst possible time. For the full context of just how epic this event was, watch the entire top 8 playlist. If you want going to cherry-pick the moments of highest intensity, than go for the winner's finals, loser's finals, and grand finals.

Capcom Cup - Top 8

Once again, when the best of the best in Street Fighter have a lot on the line, the results are incredible. The year's professional circuit culminated with a massive day that put plenty of amazing fighting skill on display. And again, picking a single standout moment is nearly impossible; even narrowing it down to just the top 8 feels incomplete. Brazilian newcomer Keoma turned heads and took down established kings. U.S. favorite Snake Eyez made a deep run in front of the home crowd. Daigo Umehara showed that he still deserves his nickname of The Beast. And Kazunoko impressed the world thanks to his clean and patient performance with Yun.

Hearthstone

ESL Legendary Series - Week 8, KitKatz vs Thijs

Part of the appeal and challenge of Hearthstone is the role of randomness. Several of the game's expansions have introduced new cards that up the level of RNG in matches. During week 8 of the ESL Legendary Series, players KitKatz and Thijs competed in a match rife with unbelievable drops from the Sneed's Old Shredder card, which summons a random legendary minion when it dies. One of them was very happy with the results. The others, not so much.

Kinguin For Charity - Round of 16, Lifecoach vs Hosty

Sneed's Old Shredder had more shenanigans in store for the German player Lifecoach in this charity tournament. Known for taking a very long time to plan out his turns, Lifecoach got an unpleasant surprise with the legendary minion that was hiding in Hosty's shredder. The suddenly shortened turns thanks to Nozdormu added a goofy twist to the usually slow pace of two control-heavy decks.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

The Big House 5 - Crews Battle, Canada vs NorCal

There's nothing quite as satisfying as a good underdog victory. The Big House 5 played host to a crew battle, a less common but high-octane team format. Canada was on the verge of a quick quarterfinal loss against the powerhouse NorCal team. But then Kage the Warrior came up as Canada's final player, with the low-tier character of Ganondorf no less, and magic happened.

DreamHack Winter - Grand Finals, Hungrybox vs Armada

As with any sport, the best esports moments weren't just about the field of play. The Smash grand finals of Dreamhack Winter marked a historic win for one of the gods of the game. As you'd expect of a finale on a global stage, the match was a fine display of skill from both Armada and Hungrybox. But the real power of this moment came from watching Hungrybox's visceral reaction after taking his last stock from Armada. Following the end of the match, watch the honest, intensely emotional interview with the new champion about what the victory meant to him.

Dota 2

The International - All-Star 10 vs 10

What true sports-lover doesn't dream of getting to join their heroes in action? The International, site of one of the top Dota 2 competitions, gave a handful of lucky fans just that chance in a wild All-Star Match played in a custom 10 vs 10 match format. Before the game even started, there were plenty of surprises and laughs from the fan interviews, and a surprise cosplayer.

The International - Grand Final

Fans of Dota 2 already know that the all-star match wasn't the only amazing moment of TI5. The event closed out with an incredible play from the American underdogs Evil Geniuses. Taking on China's CDEC Gaming, the fourth game in this best of five, EG managed to chain together the most powerful skills of their heroes in order to take out almost the entire team, steal a kill on Roshan and, shortly thereafter, take the crown.

Heroes of the Storm

World Championship - Semifinals, Cloud9 vs Team DK

Prepare for the richest, gooiest of cheese. Cloud9 was a juggernaut on the Blizzcon stage, and the team impressed with its many masterful plays over the course of the tournament. But the thing that won fans' hearts was Game 2 of the semifinals against Team DK with the unexpected drafting of Murky. Not only did C9 go for a cheesy play, but they then executed the unusual hero draft with exceptional skill. The team went on to have more amazing plays in the finals, but nothing can beat seeing the adorable Murloc get airtime on Heroes' biggest competitive stage.

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